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INTRODUCTIONThe need to uncover what is already known in the body of knowledge prior to initiating any research study should not be underestimated (Hart, 1998). Novice researchers tend to approach the literature review as nothing more than a collection of summaries of papers or an elaborated annotated bibliography of multiple research manuscripts (Webster & Watson, 2002). A meaningful literature review is much more. Hart (1998) defined literature review as “the use of ideas in the literature to justify the particular approach to the topic, the selection of methods, and demonstration that this research contributes something new” (p. 1). J. Shaw (1995) noted that the process of the review should “explain how one piece of research builds on another” (p. 326). Webster and Watson (2002) defined an effective literature review as one that “creates a firm foundation for advancing knowledge. It facilitates theory development, closes areas where a plethora of research exists, and uncovers areas where research is needed” (p. 13). From these definitions it is clear that an effective literature review should include the following characteristics: * Methodologically analyze and synthesize quality literature, * Provide a firm foundation to a research topic,

* Provide a firm foundation to the selection of research methodology, * Demonstrate that the proposed research contributes something new to the overall body of knowledge or advances the research field’s knowledge-base. According to (Richard Nordquist,about.com) literature review is the process of reading, analyzing, evaluating, and summarizing scholarly materials about a specific topic. It is a critical and evaluative account of what has been published on a chosen research topic. A literature review is a text written by someone to consider the critical points of current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. It can also be a “critical analysis of a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles”. A review of literature considers the state and progress of current literature on a given topic or problem by organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published books and articles. Furthermore, a review of literature is a critical evaluation of material that has already been published. The APA Publication Manual (1994) explains that a review of literature: defines and clarifies the topic or problem; summarizes previous investigations in order to inform the reader of the current state of research; identifies relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and suggests the next step or steps in addressing the topic or solving the problem. (p. 5). When organizing a review of literature, the goal is to inform the reader about the main trends and patterns in the literature under survey. In short, a literature review is a description of the literature relevant to a particular field or topic. It gives an overview of what has been said, who the key writers are, what are the prevailing theories and hypotheses, what questions are being asked, and what methods and methodologies are appropriate and useful. As such, it is not in itself primary research, but rather it reports on other findings. It is also not an argument for the importance of what topic is being researched on. While it is necessary to explain what the primary purpose of the research is, the reader of a literature review will assume that the need for undertaking the research has already been established. Thus literature review is not a descriptive list of papers or summaries. A literature review is organized around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organized. The researcher should assess previous studies and discuss their strengths and...

References: The literature review should conclude with a full bibliographical list of all the books, journal articles, reports and other media, which were referred to in the work. Regardless of whether the review is part of a course of study or for publication, it is an essential part of the process that all sourced material is acknowledged. This means that every citation in the text must appear in the reference or bibliography and vice versa. The reference list may be a useful source of literature for others who are interested in studying this topic (Coughlan et al, 2007), and, therefore, every effort should be made to ensure it is accurate.
To conclude, literature review is central to the research process and can help refine a research question through determining inconsistencies in a body of knowledge. Similarly, it can help inspire new research innovations and ideas while creating greater understanding about a topic. It can enable a novice researcher to gain insight into suitable designs for a future study, as well as providing information on data collection and analysis tools. Various types of literature reviews may be used depending on the reasons for carrying out the review and the overall aims and objectives of the research.

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...The Acting Life of Miss Brill
Katherine Mansfield gives the reader (us) a brief summary of Miss Brill as an aging Englishwoman who spends the afternoon in a park located in an unnamed French vacation town watching the activities of the people around her. So I naturally wanted to figure out what was meant by “aging”. “Miss” is defined in The American Heritage College Dictionary as “1. used as a courtesy title before the surname or full name of a girl or an unmarried woman. 2. Used as a form of polite address for a girl or young woman: Thanks, miss. 3. A young unmarried woman.” “Aging: 1. The process of growing old or maturing; 2. A process for in parting the properties of age.” So I begin to read with these definitions in mind. As I begin to read I can see that she is not really young.
“The story is told from the third-person limited omniscient point of view. Mansfield allows us both to share Miss Brill’s perceptions and to recognize those perceptions are highly romanticized. This dramatic irony is essential to our understanding of her character. Miss Brill’s view of the world on this Sunday afternoon in early autumn is a delightful one, and we are invited to share in her pleasure: the day “so brilliantly fine,” the children “swooping and laughing,” the band sounding “louder and gayer”(2) then on previous Sundays. And yet, because the point of
Mayfield 4
view is the third...

...THEME of "Miss Brill"
In the story "Miss Brill," an old, lonely lady spends her Sunday observing people in a park. Although ignored by everyone around her, Miss Brill manages to convince herself that she is really an integral part of the scene and would be missed if she weren't there. Her illusion is shattered by a chance remark at the end of the story, and she returns home, clearly devastated by her new understanding of her place in life. What this story is trying to illustrate is that sometimes people can be happy through living in an illusion. However, this kind of happiness is fragile and can be easily destroyed.
Unfortunately, modern society does not provide a place for everyone. Inevitably, there are those people, often elderly, who become marginalized; they live alone, friendless and mostly ignored. Miss Brill is one of these people, which becomes clear in her lack of communication with the people around her in the park. "They did not speak. This was disappointing, for Miss Brill always looked forward to the conversation. She had become really quite expert, she thought, at listening as though she didn't listen, at sitting in other people's lives just for a minute while they talked around her" (135). The prospect of actually engaging in conversation herself never crosses Miss Brill's mind; she has grown entirely accustomed to being only an observer. Another indication that...

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encourages Pip to do so. Miss Havisham was also, in Pips eyes, the
cause of his ‘Great expectations’ Miss Havisham may also have been
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experiences on people. In this case it would be Miss Havisham being
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In the first description of Satis house you get the image of a
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...to live through various means of socialization from the time of our birth . Without this socialization and interaction among each other we can become very disillusioned and confused about how to function as a part of society. One would tend to isolate ourselves, exiled in this place we call the world. In Katherine Mansfield's short story "Miss Brill," one such person, herself a kind of outcast of society, creates a fantasy world in which she is at the center. "Miss Brill" is the story of a woman battling with loneliness. She partakes in a ritual in which every Sunday she would spend the entire afternoon at the local park eavesdropping and observing the people around her. In her mind everyone around her is apart of her unadorned existence when in fact Brill only sits alone seemingly frantically in search of companionship. She scorns anything and anyone that may cause her to realize the truth about her pathetic existence. The story conveys a message, expressed through the character of Miss Brill, that those who do not communicate with others but idealize them, and those who do not act in the real world lose touch with reality.
Miss Brill's character can be described as one of an idealist. The story begins as she prepares herself for her Sunday ritual in which she speaks to herself using words like "sweet" and "dear" (Mansfield 98) to describe her stole, an lifeless object. She also describes the fur as...

...Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield
Miss Brill, a short story written by Katherine Mansfield, describes an afternoon in the life of a middle-aged spinster who visits the public park on a weekly basis, leading to her reassessment of her view of the world and the secular reality. Though short in form, it is really worth detailed interpretation and appreciation. The author tells us of her character that: “She had become really quite expert, she thought, at listening as though she didn’t listen, at sitting in other people’s lives just for a minute while they talked around her.”(307). It is this very conservation that Miss Brill enjoys listening to that will shatter her illusion.
In trying to fill the void in her life, Miss Brill spends her leisure time, every Sunday, pretending to be part of the lives of the people she encounters. Miss Brill is a school teacher. Her relationship with the English class she teaches is probably very professional. She does not derive any companionship from teaching. Mansfield also tells us that her character reads the newspaper to an old, invalid gentleman four days a week. The old gentleman usually sleeps through the news. Miss Brill’s only other connection to others is that which see gleans through the overheard conversations in the park.
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...instincts that influence behavior in concert with—and sometimes in opposition to—environmental influences, including economic, social, cultural, and familial influences. Miss Julie, for example, responds partly to her inborn female instinct for male companionship and partly to her environmentally induced hatred of men. Consequently, she both desires and despises Jean, causing her deep internal conflict.
(2) Human beings have no free will, or very little of it, because heredity and environment are so powerful in determining the course of human action.
(3) Human beings, like lower animals, have no soul. Religion and morality are irrelevant. (Strindberg, an atheist when he wroteMiss Julie, later converted to Christianity under the influence of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.)
(4) A literary work should present life exactly as it is, without preachment, judgment, or embellishment. In this respect, naturalism is akin to realism. However, naturalism goes further than realism in that it presents a more ....Miss Julie is a tragedy because Miss Julie suffers a downfall (suicide). However, it is not a tragedy in the traditional sense. Here’s why. In a classical Greek play, such as Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, a character falls to ruin in part because of an error or lapse in moral judgment. But in Strindberg’s play, Miss Julie’s downfall results from the irresistible forces (heredity and environment) acting upon her. It can...

...Miss Brill is a short story written by Katherine Mansfield and it was published in a collection of stories called The Garden Party in 1922. The story is about a woman who goes to her usual Sunday afternoon walk on Jardins Publiques and what happened there with her that day. In order to provide a study guide about this short story, this paper will analyze the the structure of Plot and the Characters created by the author on Miss Brill.
Considering Plot, Miss Brill is a story about a lonely woman who lived in an apartment in France and taught English to students. Miss Brill’s enjoyment was to wear her “dear little” fur on Sunday afternoon and go to a walk on Jardins Publiques, where she could be away from the loneliness of her “little dark room” and get in touch with people. Besides that, her favorite pastime was to eavesdrop people’s conversations, something on she was “really quite expert” because it made her part of their lives for a moment. However, this eavesdrop became a problem when at that day a young couple sat near Miss Brill and started a conversation about her. When the boy referred to her as “that stupid old thing” and questioned her importance at that place, she realized her meaningless existence and went back home, where she put her fur on its box and heard “something crying”.
The first element of plot is the exposition. In this short story, the exposition brings the care for...

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Little Miss Sunshine Analysis
Gabriela Rogers
Mesa Community College
There are a few different factors that come together and affect a person’s concept of themselves. A person’s own thoughts and interpretations are an important part of what makes that up. Different influences like the culture that we are part of can also shape how we are and how we see ourselves, as well as influences brought on my our close family members and friends. Naturally we also look to those around us to see how we compare in contrast to how they are, and develop out self-concept from that.
In the movie Little Miss Sunshine, the main character is a young girl by the name of Olive who has the aspiration to compete in beauty pageants. From the beginning, the little girl shows to have a positive self-concept of what she can accomplish. Before the family decided to go on the trip, Olive’s dad asked her if she thought she was going to win. She replied that she did, so from that it was decided that they would go. Olive’s self-concept later began to change, and she started to question herself only after some comments that her family made about gaining weight and her ability to win.
Something that is a huge influence on Olive’s self-concept is her family. When the Hoover family was having breakfast at the diner, Olive’s dad took the opportunity to tell her about how she shouldn’t eat ice cream, or else she would get fat. This made a big impact on the way she...